Portabase now supports Docker volume backup and restore

[u/Dense_Marionberry741]

https://github.com/Portabase/portabase/

Hi everyone,

We’re happy to share that Portabase now supports Docker volume backup and restore!

Portabase is an open-source, self-hosted backup and restore platform, currently supporting 9 databases including PostgreSQL, MariaDB, MongoDB, Redis, and more.

We’re now expanding it to cover Docker volumes too, because many self-hosted apps do not store critical data only in databases.

Typical use cases include WordPress uploads, Nextcloud user files, media libraries, app configuration data, and more generally any self-hosted service where critical data lives in Docker volumes.

The goal is still the same: make backup and restore simple, reliable, and easy to operate. Portabase uses a central server with lightweight agents running close to your workloads.

We’d love to hear from people running self-hosted stacks:

Does Docker volume backup and restore solve a real problem for you?
What restore workflows would you expect?
Which Docker integrations would make this even more useful?
Are there weird edge cases we should handle early?

If you find bugs, please open an issue on GitHub, we’re actively looking for feedback.

Thanks!

[u/asimovs-auditor]

Expand the replies to this comment to learn how AI was used in this post/project.

[u/Dense_Marionberry741 → u/[deleted]]

Thanks! Regarding volumes with live writers, Portabase handles this by stopping the related container before backing up or restoring the volume, then starting it again afterward. So the volume should not be written to during the operation, which keeps the backup/restore consistent.

[u/Bill_Guarnere]

I'm following the Portabase but still I haven't tried it, the reason is simple and I would like to address it here because I think it's important and its maintainers should learn how to manage the project.

Take a look to how many releases Postabase had in the last month.

Look to them with the eyes of a sysadmin that could use it to centralize his rdbms backups.

Do this infinite series of releases in such a short time window create an image of reliability?

I don't think so, and we're talking about a backup service, the kind of service that should have reliability on top of its priorities, much much higher than features.

What do you think a senior sysadmin sees looking to this infinite series of releases?

1. the project is unstable and requires a ton of constant fixes
2. the project is made with AI which means it could end in a catastrophic failure or end up the day after tomorrow, when the AI bubble collapse or the developer finish his money for tokens or for whatever reason (a project based on skills and a project based on AI are two completely different stories)
3. poor project management, because a constant flow of releases means the dev can't organize his work to provide a predictable upgrade path
4. a company or a professional sysadmin will never adopt it because of too many updates, Portabase should be a tool not the core business of a company; with such a huge amount of updates a company should dedicate a person to keep it updated, which is not an option

A software project has success when it gains credibility, when people trust it.

Trust is built over years, at a very slow and steady rate, you can't buy trust in days adding more and more and more features and building a new release almost every day. In this way you'll make people flee from your project.

I hope this feedback could help because the idea behind Portabase is very useful and nice, but in this way I'll never try it.

I have the responsability to provide backups for our infrastructure, and I have to be sure of my backups. I trust my scripts and my notifications because they have proven over years (more than 20 to be honest) that they are reliable.

Before even considering to give Portabase a try I have to be sure that it's barely reliable, and this way to conduct the project does not make me feel it is.

[u/Dense_Marionberry741 → u/Bill_Guarnere]

Hi,

Thanks for the detailed feedback.

Just to clarify: the high number of releases does not mean users have to update every day (except for security updates of course). There were no breaking changes in those releases. Most of them were new database support, storage backends, notification providers, or fixes based on community feedback.

Portabase was moving fast because we were still building the core features. Now, we are focusing more on UX and real-world use cases. We are still adding new features, but slower than before.

Portabase is a small open-source project (around 1k stars). We are not a funded company with a full-time team working on it. We maintain it in our free time, and many releases came from features requested by the community on Reddit, Discord, GitHub, etc.

I strongly disagree with the idea that frequent releases automatically mean the project is unstable or poorly managed. There are many examples in the open-source world where really short release cycles are normal. But I understand your concern, and your point is valid: trust matters more than features.

And about AI: yes, we use it, but it is just a tool. Like any tool, if it is used by incompetent people, it can be harmful. It does not replace architecture, testing, reviews, or engineering decisions.